Before you start

An unlocked handset, or an eSIM-capable one
A US address for postpaid, but not for prepaid
A payment method — prepaid accepts foreign cards, postpaid usually does not
A charged power bank between June and October

Step-by-step

1
Activate a US eSIM before you fly, or buy prepaid on landing
An eSIM bought before departure means you land with a working US number, which matters because banks, the DMV and rental applications all send SMS codes. No identity registration is required at any point in the US.
Mobile appWho: YouDay 1
2
Check your handset is unlocked and band-compatible
Handsets bought on contract abroad are frequently carrier-locked, and some regional models miss US band combinations. With 3G shut down there is no fallback network. Run your exact model through the carrier's compatibility tool.
OnlineWho: You
3
Start prepaid rather than fighting a credit check
Postpaid runs a credit check and a newcomer with no file is declined or asked for a deposit of several hundred dollars. Prepaid has no check, no contract and is usually cheaper for the same data on the same towers.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check what broadband actually reaches the address before you sign
Richmond's housing stock is old and coverage is uneven street by street — a Victorian row house in the Fan and a new build in Scott's Addition can have completely different options. Use the FCC's National Broadband Map for the specific address rather than trusting a listing's claim, particularly if you work from home.
OnlineWho: You
5
Leave emergency alerts on through storm season
Federal Wireless Emergency Alerts carry severe thunderstorm, tornado and flash flood warnings, and central Virginia gets all three. Tropical remnants reaching this far inland are primarily a rainfall and wind event rather than a coastal one, and the flash flooding along the creeks is what actually causes problems.
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6
Plan for storm outages taking your home internet with them
Summer thunderstorms and the occasional tropical remnant bring lines down across the region most years, and an outage takes home broadband down even when the mobile network holds. A charged power bank, a hotspot allowance on your mobile plan, and knowing which nearby café or library keeps power are the standard preparations for anyone working from home here.
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Documents you’ll need

Passport for postpaid; nothing at all for prepaid
US address for postpaid and for home internet
A payment card — prepaid usually accepts foreign cards, postpaid rarely does

Things most newcomers don’t know

The US has no SIM registration of any kind.

Most countries in this app require passport registration to activate a SIM and several require biometrics. The US requires nothing at all for prepaid — you can buy one with cash and never give a name. Arriving from India, Nigeria or the Gulf, the total absence of paperwork reads like an oversight. It is deliberate.

Source: community-reported

Broadband here is an address-level question, not a neighbourhood-level one.

Richmond's housing stock is largely pre-war and the fibre build has been uneven, so two row houses on the same block can have different options. The FCC's National Broadband Map answers it for the exact address. For anyone whose job depends on the connection, this is a viewing question rather than something to sort out after signing.

Source: FCC — National Broadband Map

The credit check is the barrier to postpaid, not the paperwork.

Carriers screen credit before offering a postpaid plan, and a newcomer with no file is declined or charged a deposit of a few hundred dollars. Nobody at the counter explains that prepaid avoids the check entirely, runs on the same towers, costs less, and converts to postpaid later once you have history.

Source: community-reported

Inland does not mean untouched by tropical weather.

Richmond is roughly 100 miles from the ocean, which spares it storm surge and most of the wind, but tropical remnants track up the coastal plain and dump rain on an already saturated Piedmont. The result is flash flooding on the creeks and multi-day power cuts from trees on lines. Keep alerts on, know which of your streets floods, and treat the hurricane season as a broadband-resilience problem rather than a coastal one.

Source: National Weather Service — Wakefield

Common mistakes to avoid

Switching off Wireless Emergency Alerts and missing a flash flood or tornado warning.
Signing a work-from-home lease without checking what broadband reaches that exact address.
Bringing a carrier-locked handset and discovering it after landing.
Assuming an inland city is unaffected by tropical systems.
Relying on a foreign number for bank and DMV SMS verification.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.